Losing Your Memory
by LetThemEatLlamas
Summary: AU after The Play's the Thing. Cody and Bailey are still broken up as they graduate high school, but maybe they will get the chance to rebuild their broken friendship, or even relationship, when they start school at Yale in the fall. College Adventures. CodyxBailey, BaileyxOC
1. Prologue: Part 1

**A/N:** Hi! New story! Yeah, I haven't seen this idea anywhere else, and it really interested me. I was going to write more before posting, I only have one other chapter finished, but I figured that even if I am a bit slow at writing that this would be sort of ok to post, because this chapter could easily stand alone as a one shot. Also, the prologue is really angsty and hurtful, but the story it's self isn't.

**Disclaimer:** Hi, this is Larkyn. I wish I owned Suite Life, I guess, but I don't... SO I WRITE FANFICTION INSTEAD! MUHAHAHAHA!

* * *

"Hi Zack." A disheveled Bailey slumped up to the smoothie counter, falling ungracefully into an open stool. "One banango smoothie." She mumbled to him, ignoring his widened eyes before letting her mess of a head fall to the table.

"Bailey, are you ok?" Her friend asked cautiously, not sure how to react to such a situation. Bailey, the second most cleanly person he knew, was sitting at the smoothie counter in mid day with knotted hair, unbrushed teeth, lumpy gray sweets, and the list just goes on from there. He almost pinched himself to see if he was in some weird dream or alternate universe, but decided against it when she snapped at him for staring at her for so long, and began making the smoothie.

A few minutes later a decorative cup, filled to the brim with a yummy concoction, slid across the counter top to the depressing girl. She handed him a few dollars in return, but failed to touch her drink, and continued to lay there with her cheek pressed against the counter. Zack was really getting concerned. "Bailey, I know you are still upset about last night's play, but Cody didn't mean it."

She let out a bitter laugh against the cool surface. "You think that's why I'm upset? I don't even care about that anymore."

He seriously doubted that, but didn't press further into it. "Well then why are you upset?"

She puffed out a frustrated sigh, and lifted her head so her chin could rest against the countertop. "I'm upset, because it's Grammy Pickett's 90th birthday in two days, and it turns out my family can't afford a plane ticket for me to go back to Kettlecorn."

"Hmm." Zack thought to himself, pulling out a stool to sit down across from her. He rubbed his chin in a slightly comical way that Bailey would of for sure picked up on, and probably scolded him for, if she hadn't been in such a state. Apparently his efforts paid off though, because soon enough he sprang from his stool with one of his infamous ideas. "I know, why don't you just asked London for the money?"

Bailey's eyes narrowed at him, despite his ignorance. "London left this morning for a week long vacation in Maui with her dad. Turns out he didn't bail for once."

"Oh," His shoulders slumped. Normally, he would of tried to come up with something else, but considering that this was a pretty major issue, one involving plane tickets, which in retrospect involve a lot of money, he was out of ideas. "Well I don't know how else to help you then."

Bailey mumbled an inaudible reply as she buried her head back into her mess of hair, but her sulking was soon interrupted once more by an irritable voice. "Bailey!" She groaned loudly to herself as Cody ran up to her with a shopping bag in tow.

He didn't think twice about her appearance before smiling down at her, and placing the bag on the counter. She looked up to take the bag's presence in, but then immediately fell back to her former position unamused. "I brought your dress back, thanks for letting me borrow it." He blushed a little in memory of the embarrassment that accompanied the dress, and hoped for his sake he would never have to see it again.

Rather than say 'Hey, no problem Cody!', or some other polite reply, she said nothing to him, hoping he would just leave. She had said she never wanted to speak to him again, and she intended on upholding that promise if it killed her.

Unfortunately, he didn't get the hint, and continued rambling on. "Look Bailey, I know I'm a jerk, and you are mad, but I think that if you give me another chance we can really work past this." He rushed out his confession to her, and to his bewilderment, she actually raised her head to look at him. He couldn't fully read her emotions, but she didn't seem angry; if anything she seemed calm. Slowly, she fully sat up, and turned away from him to the glossy bag.

Or at least that's what he thought she was looking at, failing to process the smoothie that sat delicately next to it. Silently, she picked up the fruity drink, and began to pour it into the bag leisurely. Once the silken, pink dress was fully layered in the orange liquid, she simply picked up the bag, and held it out to Cody to take. He did involuntarily, his mouth agape in shock.

_What just happened? _He thought to himself as she walked confidently off the sky deck, knowing that if that didn't just get her message across, nothing would.

* * *

It turns out that didn't get the message across. It took far more that a ruined dress to make it clear that she didn't want Cody in her life.

The first week or two he sent her flowers everyday to her room. Eventually, he stopped that though when he noticed the small stack outside her door was multiplying into a small mountain.

Next, he tried chocolates and other sweets. Like him, she decided to mix it up too, and the day after she received a box she would take it to class, and regift it to a random classmate right in front of him. Some she was good friends with, some she barely even talked to, but they all had one thing in common: They were all guys.

He dropped this tactic even quicker than the flowers, and fell to old fashioned note giving. He would slide one under her door every night, thinking this would be his most full proof ploy yet. The notes were already in her room so they couldn't pile outside, and no classmate would want a note with no sentiment to them. It was perfect, but later that night when the same neatly folded paper slid under his door his heart sank. He rose from his homework dusted desk, and walked to the door sorrowfully, and picked up the note. He opened it, wincing at the red, marker drawn x that covered his long thought out writings.

He could no longer resist the urge that had been gradually building up over the past month. He had tried time, gifts, flattery, kindness... And she shot him down in cold blood every time. It was his nature to be defensive of himself, and not even the love of his life could over shadow it.

Violently, Cody threw the note to the ground, with gritted teeth, before darting out of his room, and up the stairwell to the girls floor that laid a deck above. It seems Bailey was taking her own sweet time getting back to her room, because Cody could see her searching her jeans pockets for her room card at the end of the hallway.

Cody took off into a sprint down the never ending hallway; it didn't take long for Bailey to feel the rumble and look up. She glared at him as she pulled the key from her pocket to unlock the door, but to her dismay, a hand appeared, covering the slot before she could.

She turned violently towards a panting Cody. He tried to cover up his exhaustion, knowing he wouldn't be very persuasive if he passed out right in front of her. "Why... are you.." He started out in between gasps until he gave up, and allowed his body time to recover. Meanwhile, Bailey was trying to pry his hand away, but surprisingly couldn't. Maybe it was the adrenaline, but it was clear to them both that he wasn't leaving until he spoke his part. Eventually, she groaned out in frustration, and just began jabbing the card into his hand like a dagger.

"Ow!" He screamed out in pain, recoiling his hand to cradle it. Bailey smirked at this as she began to slide the card in, but she should of suspected that this wouldn't be an easy victory. Cody's hand shot out to grab Bailey's wrist, constricting any further movement. He moved his back against the door to guard her entrance into the safe haven.

"Ow!" She cried out to him painfully. Tears welled in her eyes. "Cody let go! You're hurting me!" She pleaded, looking helplessly into his eyes.

Although this was the first time she had spoken to him in months he wasn't a stranger to her cruel jokes and manipulations lately. She wasn't even struggling, and he was positive she could snap his arm in an instant if she cared to. Of corse that would lead to expulsion, which was the reason for the manipulation of his heart.

"You know that's not true Bailey." He dropped her wrist carelessly. She took a step back from him, noticing the few inches that had separated them before was far too little considering her rage.

"Fine, it wasn't, but what's your problem? You practically assaulted me!" She spat at him.

"My problem?" He raised his eyebrows in shock. Did she really just say that? "I think you've got it all wrong, Bailey. It's you who has the problem! You've been acting hostile towards me for the last month!"

"I said I wasn't talking to you, and in response you began to stalk me. I was just retaliating against your attacks." She proposed calmly. If a stranger had suddenly walked in in the conversation it would of seemed to them that Cody really was a criminal, the way Bailey fashioned the situation.

"Stalked? Are you even hearing yourself! I was just trying to earn your forgiveness, and now you are turning it into some sick, twisted story!" He yelled at her.

Bailey couldn't take it anymore, she couldn't keep calm, she couldn't act like she wasn't hurt. "Yea, you know what you're right, it was a bit exaggerated." She yelled, closing in on him to make sure he received the full effect of her wrath. "But not as exaggerated as that awful play of yours!" She screamed at him, making him wince, before she shoved him out of the way, and quickly entered her room, leaving Cody to his own personal rage.

It was all he felt. He no longer was filled with sadness, loneliness, or longing, but clouded with anger towards Bailey. It covered logic and reason, and because he wasn't in right mind, he welcomed the anger like Bailey had a long time ago.

* * *

From there it only got worse. Silence was replaced by hateful insults at every chance. Literally every chance. They even took opportunities in class to find ways to pound at one another, masked with educational answers that only the other would truly understand.

However, it was pretty clear to everyone that something was up when Cody protested violently in history one day, saying that the Europeans were evil for colonizing Africa, selfishly taking everything of value, and leaving the continent hopeless for the future when they just left carelessly.

A good argument if it weren't that he said Africa and Europe broke up carelessly before he corrected himself.

They fought even more viscously over the top spot in class, often accusing the other of cheating. They had to hang out with their mutual friends are different, designated times. Bailey avoided the sky deck at all costs during Cody's shift. Neither could just go up to the other's room to see Woody or London, because of chance of seeing each other. Never had their arguments climaxed at such a height, even the arguments at the beginning of their breakup seemed like a casual conversation compared to what ensued at the end of senior year.

However, at the end of March, when college acceptance letters came in the mail, things started to ease up. Both had been overwhelmingly excited when they ripped open their packets from the mutual ivy league school, and were even happier when they read that they had been accepted to Yale University.

It hadn't taken long for word spread across the boat that they had both made it in, and eventually it circled back around to them. Each had been slightly disappointed, but out of pride refused to let the fact that they would be looming on the same campus for another four years spoil their happiness.

However, the bickering resurfaced only two months later at the news that they would both be co-valedictorians at graduation.

In the beginning, Ms. Tutwiler proposed they write a speech together, and alternate paragraphs, but that idea was shot down instantly.

It had taken a lot of begging from each student, but eventually the teacher gave in after their constant annoying, and not only let each student write their own speech, but talk at entirely different times. For a moment the two had been satisfied with their work, until they began to argue about who would present last, wanting their words to make a grander impression than the other by being the last speech heard at the ceremony.

A coin toss by Ms. Tutwiler quickly settled it, and Cody won. His foot however wasn't so lucky, when Bailey stomped on it after the defeat.

The graduation it's self went beautifully, and left everyone in attendance: teacher, student, or parent, with tears in their eyes. Both Cody and Bailey presented equally excellent speeches about their time spent on the ship, as well as the path that lies ahead for each student.

"We will always cherish the memories we've made here together, but let us hope that there are even greater memories to be made, and moments to be had in the future. Let us move on, but never forget our time here at Seven Seas High." Cody said confidently, closing the ceremony.

It left a lasting impression on the audience like he had expected it too.

What Cody didn't expect was for it to leave a lasting impression on Bailey as well. As much as it pained her to admit it, he was right. She would always remember the fun times she had in high school, but she had to move on. This chapter was over, and now it was time to focus on the next one.

At least the last words she heard Cody say held some meaning to them.

* * *

_"I said it's not your fault I lied  
And I don't have time to watch you cry  
And I'm thinking Romeo must die."_

_~Romeo Must Die, Gabrielle Aplin_


	2. Prologue: Part 2

_"What does it feel like to be alive? ...It is time pounding at you, time. Knowing you are alive is watching on every side your generation's short time falling away as fast as rivers drop through air, and feeling it hit."  
~Pg. 150 of 'An American Childhood by: Annie Dillard'_

* * *

**Prologue: Part 2**

"And don't forget to call everyday!" Cody could hear his mother cry out from the hallway as his father attempted to pry her away from him so he and his brother could have a moment alone before the three headed back to Boston.

The summer had gone by faster than anyone could of imagined in the Martin household. Everyone in the family knew this day was looming, but never had they imagined that it would sneak up on them so abruptly. It seemed like just yesterday the twins were crawling through air vents, pulling pranks all over the Boston Tipton, and now Cody was headed off to a college miles away from home.

The brothers laughed a bit at their frantic mother, but it was mostly out of awkwardness for the moment to come. They looked at each other sorrowfully for a moment before mutually pulling each other into a tight hug.

How were they going to be apart for so long? The longest they had ever been away from one another was about a week, when Cody went to math camp, and that definitely didn't turn out well. Hopefully, now that they were older things would go smoother, but there was no denying that being apart would be hard on both of them.

After several moments the brothers pulled away. "I'll miss you buddy." Zack attempted to get out strongly, but it was clear his voice cracked half way through.

Cody wasn't in a much better state though. He fought back the tears that clouded his vision as he spoke. "Yea, I'll miss you too. Don't forget to call, and don't be afraid to come visit a few weekends... Boston is only an hour or two away you know."

Zack stifled out a laugh as he punched Cody playfully in the shoulder. "Yea, and the same goes for you." He smiled weakly to his twin before quickly giving him another hug, and diving out of the room. He didn't want to lose his manly, older brother reputation now by doing something stupid like crying.

It took a second for Cody to process it all. Almost like a surprise party or getting pushed into a pool. He had to think to himself: _Did that really just happen?_ It did though; there was no denying that Cody was on his own now. No parents, no Zack, not even any friends at the moment... Just him and a half lived in dorm room. His roommate wasn't even there yet, and it was nearing the end of check in time. Before Cody could plunge into a world of what if's though, the door swung open.

Cody's eyes widened as, what he expected was his roommate, entered the dorm. He couldn't exactly tell what he looked like though, because his arms were stacked with plastic bins. Immediately, Cody rushed to help him. "Let me help you." He said to him as he took the top two bins from the teen.

"Thanks!" His now revealed face smiled at Cody. "I'm Landon. You can just put those under the bed." Landon's mother soon walked in behind him decorated with duffle bags, and a rolling trolly. She smiled just as genuinely at Cody.

Cody slid the bins under the bed, and began to help the two unload. It seemed like he brought a lot, and it would take a while to get unpacked compared to Cody who had four people helping him settle in versus two. "I'm Cody by the way. It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too!" He exclaimed brightly, green eyes shining from behind his wired glasses. From there small talk ensued as the three helped Landon unpack. It turns out Landon was from Chicago, where he lived with his mom. They soon found out that they both had divorced parents, but sadly Landon's dad was far less involved in his life than Kurt was in Cody's. However, Landon wasn't too sad at this since the last time saw his dad was when he was four. Unlike Cody, Landon was actually athletic, playing Basketball in high school. With this Cody mentioned his brother Zack who was also pretty good at the game, and Landon said that he would love to meet him when he visited. Their conversation branched out into several different areas from there; Majors, friends, hobbies, funny stories. Even after everything was all set up, and Landon's mother had hugged him goodbye, The two kept on talking about anything and everything until Landon's phone started meowing.

Both boy's eyes went wide at the sound, and Landon was clearly blushing when he went to reach for his phone, but once he saw the caller-ID he just rolled his eyes in amusement. He answered it. "Did you change my ringtone?" He laughed awkwardly into the phone.

Cody stayed where he was, a few feet away, trying not to listen to the conversation at hand, but it was sort of hard not to. Landon turned around to face Cody, holding up five fingers to signal he would make it quick. The conversation continued on, and a smile never left Landon's face as he talked to the mysterious, ringtone changing caller. After a few minutes it seems like the conversation was coming to an end.

"Yea, I'll be sure to call tomorrow morning, and be warned I'm changing my ringtone back to normal... Yea, I miss you too... No, I love you ten times more... A million times more... Ok, you love me more. Talk to you later, bye." He smiled to himself as he hung up the phone, and turned his attention back to Cody. "Girlfriend." He explained.

"I could tell." He laughed at his roommate after his mushy display of affection. "So are you guys doing long distance or something?"

"Yea," He started as he took his place back next Cody. "What makes it worse is that she is at school in California, but we decided to at least give it a shot. We love each other too much not to try."

"Well that's good. You know what they say: Distance makes the heart grow fonder." He put a reassuring hand on his newfound friend's shoulder.

"Yea, I guess." He sighed sadly. He still wasn't sure about how dating via-email, phone, and skype would play out, but he couldn't even bare the thought of breaking up with her. "So, do you have a girlfriend?" He asked out of curiosity.

Cody internally cringed at the statement. Although the answer was no, over the summer he had found that he wished that it was yes. The first few weeks he basked in the freedom he faced without her constant wrath, feeling happier than he had in a long time, but as the school year neared each day that happiness turned to emptiness. It took him forever to figure out why he felt this way. He was away from her, he should be happy that her misery no longer loomed over him like a storm cloud. Yet he wasn't. Little things would remind him of her, he would go off into daydreams, and once Zack even swore he heard him mumble her name in his sleep.

By the end of the summer it was unavoidable. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he was still in love with her, and he wanted her back. He was sure that she still probably hated his guts, but somehow he had to try. "Umm, no. Not really." He answered back quietly, lowering his head.

"Oh..." He caught on that Cody didn't really want to talk about the topic, and quickly changed it to something lighter. "Hey, there is a party later by the bay. Wanna go?"

"Sure." He smiled to Landon. A party was just what Cody need to clear his mind, and get into the college scene.

* * *

Meanwhile, a fairly similar scene unfolded across campus in similar dorm hall.

"Oh my gosh! This is going to be so much fun! I'm having so much fun, are you having so much fun? I love college!" The pink clad girl squealed as she jumped repeatedly up and down on the equally pink bed. Actually, everything on the left half of the divided room was pink. It was like hubba-bubba barfed all over.

Bailey searched through her tiny closet as she listened to her roommate's ramblings. Marina actually wasn't half bad, come to find out, once you got past the overwhelming amounts of pink and unnatural cheeriness. If anything she was automatically a better roommate than London for not taking over Bailey's closet. "Yea, college is going to be so awesome." She agreed as she pulled a dress coated hanger, and walked over to the bouncing girl.

The girl gasped in delight, clapping her hands happily when she saw the dress. "You are right! This is so cute! Thank you so much, Bailey, I love you!" She hopped down from the bed to engulf Bailey in a huge bear hug before taking the pink, flowered sundress.

"No problem," Bailey smiled to Marina, who way swaying in front of the mirror, holding the dress out in front of her. "You're going to look amazing in it."

"You should borrow something of mine to wear tonight!" She cooed in delight as she spun around to face Bailey. "I have just the thing!" She discarded her dress on the bed, and ran to her closet.

"Oh, no it's fine..." Bailey smiled uncomfortably as she followed Marina to her closet, but much to her surprise, there were clothes of different colors hanging inside.

"Don't be silly." Marina said as she looked through the closet, and after a few seconds she pulled out a cross backed, sunset orange dress. Bailey put out her hand to graze her fingers over it; even she had to admit it was pretty. Marina got the silent message, and squealed in delight. "I knew you'd like it! Now go put it on!" She thrust Bailey, and the dress into the bathroom, and within minutes Bailey reemerged, all dressed up, to see that Marina had changed as well. "You look so pretty! I mean I knew that you would really good in it, but not that good! You should just keep it, it looks way better on you!"

Bailey heard a light knock on the door, but Marina just continued gushing on, ignoring it. After a moment Bailey headed towards the door, and opened it to reveal a teenager that looked to her her age. He was quite handsome, even she, who factoring in looks practically last into dating criteria, had to admit. At first she smiled rather absentmindedly at him, which he returned gratefully. Then she realized that there was a perfect stranger standing in her doorway, and she had no reason why. Her smiling face turned to perplexity, and just when she was about to ask him who he was she heard Marina scream.

"Jeremy!" She pushed passed Bailey to engulf the boy in one of her famous hugs.

"Hey, Marina. Ready to go?" He rolled his eyes at her overreaction, but still hugged her back. All the while, Bailey was still really confused.

"Yea!" She discontinued the hug, and just when she was ready to run out the door she remembered her roommate. "Oh, wait! This is Bailey, Jeremy. She's my roommate, and awesome if I do say so myself."

"It's really nice to meet you." He smiled almost as brightly as Marina as he stuck out his hand for Bailey to shake.

"Hi." Bailey said politely as she took his hand in hers. "It's nice to meet you too. So are you and Marina dating or something?" She asked them both, tired of not knowing who this boy was, and what he meant to Marina. Apparently a lot.

The smiles instantly dropped from Marina and Jeremy's faces, and were replaced with cringes. Marina even went so far as to gag. "Uh no!" She walked to Jeremy's side, and placed an arm around his shoulder. "Don't you see the family resemblance?"

Realization hit Bailey like a ton of bricks. Tall, same facial structure, dark brown eyes... The list goes on. The only difference was in hair color, where Jeremy's leaned on a much lighter shade of brown. "Oh! You're siblings, it's so obvious! Sorry, I'm such an idiot!" She face palmed herself out of stupidity.

"Well, obviously not, you're at Yale aren't you?" He joked, nudging her shoulder. The three laughed. Bailey could see right away that like Marina, her brother was also very welcoming, and easy to talk to.

"Yea, he's older by about 11 months. Our parents didn't waste anytime." She laughed as they started down the hallway to the party.

"You should see my family, I have nine sisters!" At this even more laughter erupted from the trio, and from that moment Bailey could see that this was the start of a beautiful friendship.

* * *

It was a party for Freshman. She was bound to be here, right? That's what Cody thought as he and Landon came upon the crowded shore full of students. Music blared from speakers that scattered the shore. Tables full of refreshments were being swarmed by hungry teens. In the distance you could see little waves lapping over the rough shore, but the focal point for sure was the dancing. It didn't even seem like individual dances, just one swarming mob of people.

Even if she was here it would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack...

* * *

"Oh. My. GOSH! This party is awesome, isn't it awesome! Say it's awesome, pretty please!" Marina pleaded, tugging on Bailey's arm, as a song faded out. They had been there for about an hour, and the party was actually pretty fun. They had met a lot of new people, and they were having an even better time than expected.

"Yes, we are having an awesome time! This party is so awesome!" Bailey exaggerated her reply to fit Marina's tone, and Jeremy could help but chuckle out in reply to her playful sarcasm. Her impersonation was spot on.

"Hey," She swatted Bailey's arm. "I am serious!" She might of been believable if it weren't for the intruding smile she was trying to hide.

"Yes, we know." Jeremy held up his hands in a playful defense. "We would never make fun of you Princess Marina." Bailey and Jeremy, unable hold it in anymore, burst out in a fit of knee slapping laughter. Marina crossed her arms in a pout, but eventually started to giggle with them out of how funny their laughing fit was.

In the midst of their laughing a girl they had met earlier that night came up to Marina to introduce her to a guy she had told her about. Jeremy watched on in embarrassment as his hopeless sister twirled her finger around in her straight hair until it was knotted, and the boy had to help her get it out.

"She is so awkward." He commented to himself with a crooked smile.

"Yea, but it suits her in a way." Bailey agreed as she tilted her head slightly to look at the couple.

"Yup, she's always been like that since we were kids. All happy and bubbly and embarrassing. I guess it's apart of her charm."

"Right..." She commented as they watched the pair walk off hand in hand like they weren't even there. "Is ditching people also apart of her charm?"

"Um..." Jeremy rubbed the back of his neck at the situation. "No, but I'm sure she didn't mean to."

Bailey could only smile at his bashfulness. "It's fine." She shrugged. "We can talk. I had an entire afternoon to get to know Marina, but I barely know anything about you."

And talk they did. For what seemed like hours they sat on the shore talking about anything that came to mind. Bailey told him everything with no restraints, something she hadn't done with anyone in a long time, much less a near stranger. She told him about growing up on a farm in the middle of nowhere, and rather than sit there bored, like many people did when she told them about her country childhood, he was filled with wonder. Jeremy and Marina weren't city born and raised, they grew up in a suburb in Virginia where white picket fences and sprinkler feed lawns were of abundance. He had seen a farm before, he even told her about a elementary school field trip he took once, and how Marina was too scared to milk a cow so he volunteered to do it twice.

It was surprising how genuinely interested he was. He never once rushed her, trying to get to the end. It made her feel relaxed, and was probably the reason she was being so open.

They talked more about their families. Considering it was just his parents, him, and Marina, Jeremy was finished quite fast, but it must of taken thirty minutes for Bailey to get through everyone. From there they sped into a much easier topic: hobbies. While many of them matched up in comparison, one that took Bailey by surprise was that Jeremy was in a band before leaving for college. Music had always fascinated her, even though she had never truly dove far into the subject. Her one piece of experience came from that beauty pageant she had won about two years back. Immediately she asked if he could help her with her singing, but her just laughed at the idea, saying he sounded like a dying walrus when he sang, and could only play the drums. Bailey blushed embarrassingly, and quickly changed the topic, plunging into the world high school.

Much to her disappointment, Jeremy quickly skimmed over his experience, wanting to talk about nothing more than her adventures. "Wow! I can't believe you did that! It must of been amazing to travel the world while going to school!"

Bailey smiled fondly back at the memories as she laid back into the sandy shore. Sure high school was fun, but she tried not to dwell on it often. In truth, it sort of made her sad that the experience was over.

That's why she was trying to focus on college, and the future ahead to make sure that it was the best it could possibly be. She didn't want to live in the past. "Yea, it was pretty amazing, but hopefully college will be even better."

"I'm sure it will live up to your expectations." He whispered to her.

"I hope so; I have very high expectations." She returned his smile sweetly, looking up at him for a still moment, until out of nowhere Bailey threw a handful of sand at him.

Jeremy sprang up from the ground, and began to dust the sand from his eyes, while Bailey clutched her stomach in a rage of giggles. "You aren't getting away with this!" He shouted as he started to throw fist fulls of wet sand at her which she attempted to block with her hands, but was rapidly failing to do when her orange dress gradually became sand coated. She soon gave up on defense, and optioned for an offensive tactic by throwing even more sand at Jeremy than he was before.

The two ran after each other laughing, and shouting playful complaints at one another. The winner wasn't clear for a long time until Jeremy scooped Bailey up bridal style, and flung her into the freezing, New England water. She screamed with terror as her body hit the shallow water. She submerged into the numbing water seconds before shooting back up to pull Jeremy in by the arm. He didn't have time to defend himself as he practically fell onto of Bailey into the freezing bay.

She must of looked awful. Makeup running, sand coated, hair and dress clinging to her all over, but she didn't care, and by the looks of that smile, he didn't either. Kneeling there, across from Jeremy, in that fifty degree water should of been one of the most uncomfortable things ever. She wasn't even acting like herself. She was rational and sensible most of the time... She should of been long out of that water, fearful of catching a cold her first week of school, but she couldn't bare rip herself from that moment.

It was like staring into fire, and like fire she had never felt so alive.

One boy though, looking on from the shore, had never felt so dead.

* * *

**A/N:** Yay! Now we can get on with the real story! The three OCs mentioned in this chapter will be the other main characters, along with Cody and Bailey. Canon characters, mainly Zack, will be making appearances. I will try to upload a new chapter on Sunday, but I've started school so you can probably only expect a chapter of about a thousand words a week. Thanks for reading, and don't forget to review!


	3. Chapter 1: Three Years Later

_"Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy,  
But here's my number,  
So call me maybe"  
~Call Me Maybe, Carly Rae Jepson_

* * *

**Chapter 1: Three Years Later...**

**"**Guys..." SMACK. MOAN. SLAP. SMACK. "Umm... Guys?" More disgusting kissing noises, yet no reply. Cody gulped awkwardly from his desk as he tried to evade his mind from the make out session going on ten feet away from him. Jenny, Landon's girlfriend, just _had_ to surprise him this weekend. Maybe he should be more considerate of the forbidden couple, being that they only get to meet in person a handful of time a year... But did she _have_ to pick the weekend before a major lab report was due?

The least they could do was spare him his eye sight, and move to a different location. After all, it was school, shouldn't anyone participating in any education related activity get first dibs on the room?

_UGH! I should of made that a rule in our dorm contact!_ The twenty one year old scolded his eighteen year old self for not thinking of it. Honestly, considering that Landon and Jenny were in a long distance relationship, he hadn't thought of such a rule at the time, thinking there would be no need... But now he was seriously rethinking that.

"Guys, I'm trying to work, can you be a little less..." Now he was feeling a bit nauseous, feeling the moment get more intimate by the second. This was going way to far. "Fine! You win! I'm leaving!" He shouted in frustration, hoping the sudden uproar would startle the couple apart, but it didn't, so he just took his laptop, and marched out of the room, slamming the door.

At the sound the couple broke apart, gasping for air. "Wow..." Landon struggled to get out in between breaths. "It worked..."

"Told you.." Jenny tried to do the same after the heated make out secession. "So, you wanna do it again?" She asked after they had both regained their breaths. Landon responded almost instantly with a bruising kiss on their lips, and they picked up right where they left off.

* * *

"It's a fact of life that you can't play Uno without the red cards! Why would someone even take out the red cards, anyways! This is a cruel joke!" Marina screamed out in agony as she paced across the lounge, gripping at her straight brown hair. "College students are evil!" She declared as Jeremy and Bailey darted their eyes rapidly back and forth from their position on the couch to watch her frantic pacing.

Bailey giggled to herself at her friend's reaction. In the years that she had known her, Marina's rants never failed to make her laugh. "We can just play without the red cards."

"Didn't you just hear me!" She screamed out, abruptly facing the couple cuddling on the couch. She leaned down towards them across the card covered coffee table. "Playing Uno without red cards would be like breathing without air! Do you know how hard it is to breath without air? It's impossible!"

"Well sure Mari, five year olds know that." Jeremy smiled sickeningly sweet at his clearly annoyed sister. This game night was not going like she had planned. It was suppose to start at nine sharp. First they were suppose to play Uno for one game, then Sorry, and finally they would play Trivial Pursuit. Now everything was all ruined, and game night was a failure. She screamed out in frustration, and fell dramatically to the carpeted floor. Alluding to death, she began to hold her breath for several seconds motionless.

"Come on, Mari..." Jeremy rose from his position on the couch next to Bailey to go nudge his sister, but she laid there persistent like a child. "Marina..." He groaned, shaking his sister roughly. How would he explain to his parents that their only daughter killed herself over a game of Uno?

Bailey sighed, and stood from the couch to walk over to the siblings. She kneeled next to them, sighing. "I saw some students playing Uno a few weeks ago in Mark's dorm lounge. I'll go get their set."

Marina's head instantly darted up from the carpet. Her face began draining it's purple tones. "Would you?" She clutched her hands, smiling hopefully to Bailey, who nodded a silent response. Marina jumped up excitedly from the floor to hug her best friend. "Yay! Thanks so much!" She pulled back from the hug to shoe Bailey out the door, and into the breezy, September night.

Bailey rolled her eyes as she began to make her way, swiftly, through campus. Within five or so minutes she reached her destination, and quickly darted into the similar dorm lounge. She began making her way across the cozy lounge to the bookshelf of games, but half way there she paused. Wait a minute... There had been a man sitting in one of the chairs by the door. He hadn't looked up when she walked in, but she had seen the top of his shining blonde head. Why was it so familiar?

She slowly turned back around to face the man, and was shocked to see that he had since looked up at her as well. It was a person she knew so well. For practically three years of her life he had been a big part of her world, bringing anywhere from the most positive to negative effects. She couldn't complain, she supposed she had done the same to him.

However, as much as she knew him, and he knew her, they did not know each other. She had changed, and so had he. His blonde hair for one though, hadn't, it still shined on, and his eyes, she assumed still had the power to move anyone like the ocean... Yet he seemed worn, like his was an old man stuck in a young man's body. Not that he hadn't be serious before, but now it seemed even greater. She, however, was everything but serious.

She was born bubbly, and had never been able to deny that portion of her personality, but in the recent years it seemed as if she embraced it even more so. It was probably due to having Marina as a roommate for three years, but even so, she was more than willing to embrace this playful side of herself. After all, she was young and in college. She could do anything, so why restrict herself to a life of boredom?

They were entirely different people than they had been in high school, but that didn't change that they were still each other's first loves.

"Cody... Like Cody Martin, is that really you?" She squinted her eyes as she slowly made her way across the room towards him in disbelief. By the time she stopped in front of him there was no doubt in her mind that it was in fact him.

"It's nice to see you too, Bailey." He cracked a crooked smile, closing his laptop, before rising to meet her in a hug.

"It's been so long, three years if I'm correct."

"Yea, I guess biochem and history majors don't have many classes together." He joked lightly as he returned the hug. "And by the way," He pulled her back at arms length to take her fully in. "What happened to your hair?"

"My hair?" She raised her eyebrows as a hand flew to her head. "It's been like this for almost two years now."

"Hmm..." He took in the almost shoulder length hair, and side swept bangs, contemplating. "I like it." He concluded.

"Well maybe you would of liked it a bit sooner if you had called." She rolled her eyes at him. Clearly their ability to banter back and forth had not slipped away in their years apart.

"You're blaming me?" He raised his eyebrows. "I was under the impression you hated me!"

"Oh, yea..." She realized. "Sorry about that. I sort of forgot about that a long time ago to tell you the truth. I hope there are no hard feelings on your part." She smiled sadly, hoping she was forgiven as well.

He laughed in amusement. "I forgave you ages ago."

"I guess it's both our faults then... but anyways I have to go, but we should totally catch up sometime." She smiled, snatching up his open notebook, and pen on the coffee table to scribble down her number. "Here's my number. I've changed it since I've been here, so I guess you couldn't of called me anyways. Just call when ever, and we can go get coffee or whatever."

"Sure, that'd be great." He gazed down at the notebook in his hands, as she began to walk out the door, but looked up when he saw her run back across the room.

She bent down to take the bag of Uno cards off the bookshelf. He could see her blush as she pivoted, and began to rush back out the door. All the while Cody's eyes followed her in amusement at her embarrassed actions. "Umm, I almost forgot." She smiled awkwardly, holding up the bag.

"You might not want those. Apparently, all the blue cards are missing."

"So I've heard." She smiled playfully. "Goodnight, Cody." She spoke before darting out of the room, and across campus once more. Within minutes she was back inside the more familiar lounge seeing two of her most favorite people sprawled across the floor playing go fish.

"Um... Have any sevens." Jeremy mumbled, scratching his head. He was not doing very well at the moment.

"UNO!" Marina sprung up from the floor, discarding her hand, which in fact had two sevens in it, to meet Bailey at the door.

Jeremy turned around from their abandoned game to look up at the two girls. "Well it took you long enough." He joked as the two came to join him on the floor. Marina began to sort out the cards. Bailey leaned her head against his shoulder, at which he instinctively wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer to savor the moment before they had to break apart to play the card game.

"Yea, I know." She sighed into him, letting her eyes flutter closed in relaxation. "I sort of got distracted..."

"What happened?" She could hear Marina coo from a few feet away, still shuffling cards.

"I saw an old friend from high school."

"Oh, was she in the area or something?" She asked in wonder as she started dealing out the cards.

She snuggled closer into Jeremy's hold. "Actually, it was a guy and he goes to school here."

"He does?" Jeremy spoke out of confusion. "Well why haven't you kept in touch."

"We had a pretty tough breakup."

She could feel Jeremy's muscles tense against her before he pulled back, to look Bailey. "You dated him?" His eyes widened at the fact. Bailey had mentioned a boyfriend in high school, but had never gone as far to say he attended the same college as them. It just never came up, and Bailey never saw the use in bringing it up since it didn't matter anymore.

"Yea, for a year, but the fact that we haven't cared enough to see each other in three years should tell you something if you're worried."

"I'm not worried."

"Liar." Marina giggled out as she set up the last of the game. "Now lets get to playing! We are already forty minutes past schedule!"

Bailey leaned in closer in Jeremy to whisper in his ear. "You have nothing to worry about." She could see a slight look of hesitance as she pulled away, but quickly replaced it with a smile as she leaned in to press a sweet kiss to his cheek.

* * *

**A/N:** Hey, you just read this, and I know I'm crazy, but would you please, review it maybe? Hah, I couldn't resist the lyrics :] This was basically an opener, and all the real plot stuff starts to roll out next chapter, which will be up this weekend.


	4. Chapter 2: Still or Shove

**A/N:** First off I would like to say that I am only a junior in high school, and therefore have never been to college. I've stayed at colleges before, researched them, watched TV shows about college life, read fanfiction about it, etc. However, because I have never been a college student this might not be the most accurate of college fanfics... Luckily, I think most of you reading this aren't in college either so that's the good part :) Next chapter in a week or so!

* * *

**Chapter 2: Still or Shove**

A complete lab report, two rain checks, and a week later Cody and Bailey finally found time to have coffee and a nice long conversation together at the student union. It hadn't taken long for the two to settle into conversation, and begin to explain what had happened for them in the past few years.

"So are you still enjoying chemistry?" She asked him sipping her foam covered latte slowly.

"Yea, it's great. My bunsen burner has grown to be my best friend, well aside from Landon." He quickly corrected himself.

She wrinkled her forehead at the unfamiliar name. "Who's Landon?"

"Oh, he's my roommate. We've been friends since freshman year." He quickly informed Bailey, leaning back into the plush chair he was sitting in.

"Sounds like my roommate. Her name is Marina, she's sort of loud and bubbly, but I still love her like a sister." She smiled fondly as she talked about her friend.

"Landon tends to lean towards the bright side too, but he is hardly preppy. However, I would consider him like a brother as well." He smiled at the fact that he could say that with honesty. Sure, he loved Zack, and most of the time he was an awesome brother, but with him all the way back in Boston for college it was nice to have some one who understood him so well on campus.

Bailey set down her mug, and leaned forward, setting her elbows on her knees, and her smiling face in her hands. "Speaking of brothers, how is Zack doing?"

"You haven't seen Zack either?" He laughed in amazement. "Are you trying to avoid everyone from high school or what?"

"No, of corse not!" She defended herself. "I still talk to people; I talk to London quite often actually!" She was getting sort of frantic trying to prove her point, and quickly calmed herself before continuing. "It's just really hard to keep up with old friends in the first place. Especially when we are all from different hometowns, so it's not like we can see each other during holidays like students who went to regular high school can." She concluded.

"Huh," He had never thought about it that way before.

"But your right, I should try to keep in better touch with everybody." She nodded shamefully.

"Yea, but you have to remember that communication goes both ways, same with friendships too." He added thoughtfully as he sipped his steaming coffee.

"I guess you're right," She sighed. "But that doesn't make it anymore their fault than mine if that's what your getting at."

"What part of relationships go both ways did you not get?" He laughed.

"The part where you excluded the bad kinds."

He straightened up, more alert than ever at the subject. "But you're not mad at anyone are you?" If anything could surprise him more than her feeling some other emotion besides hate toward him, than it would be if she was angry at another one of their friends. Back on the boat the only person she fought with was London, and half of the of time their arguments were so trivial she would just part take in them for the fun of it.

"No, I'm not." She looked down at her cup, sloshing around it's dwindling contents, watching them swirl like a hurricane. "I'm just saying that bad relationships don't work like that; people don't contribute anything."

"It's not how much you contribute necessarily, it's what you contribute, which is why I know that even though you haven't seen everyone in a while they still know you are a great friend, because of what a good friend you were back on the boat."

"Hmm," She poured back the rest of the lukewarm liquid into her mouth, setting the mug down on the table. "Agree to disagree?"

"Sure." He shrugged to her knowing fully well that he couldn't change her mind for all the money in the world. He was surprisingly fine with that though, as long as she felt the same way.

* * *

They talked for far longer than they had expected. Longer than it took for them to finish off their coffee, and order entirely new cups. Longer than it took for every customer to clear out and be replaced with new ones. Longer than it took for either of them to realize that they had lost track of time until Bailey noticed that her class on the Italian Renaissance began in twenty minutes. She had gotten up to leave, but before she could take one step out the union doors she heard Cody run up next to her, and suggest he take the fifteen minute walk cross campus with her.

She had said it was fine, and that he probably had much better things to do than escort her, but he insisted that he had nothing better to do at the moment. While she doubted him entirely she gave in, and let him walk with her. After all there was still so much she wanted to talk about with him.

So there they were now, strolling along the sidewalk, going into further detail about their lives. Cody was in the middle of telling her about the first time Landon and Zack met. "...The moment I told Zack that Landon was a basketball player he instigated a duel between them the next time he came up here. I tried to warn him that Landon was a giant compared to him, but he still wouldn't back down."

Bailey rolled her eyes knowingly. Yup, Zack hadn't changed at all. Still as stubborn as ever.

"So the weekend comes around, and we meet Zack up at the park by the basketball courts, and you should of seen him, his eyes practically popped out of his head when he saw Landon."

"But he didn't forfeit the game, did he?" She turned her head to smile up at him.

He gladly reciprocated it, laughing a bit too. "Nope, and even after three losses and Landon blocking practically _every_ shot he still wouldn't give up."

"Eventually, it got too dark to play though, and they had to stop playing. Zack had to admit he lost, and went over to tell Landon he had played well, and I guess we just all started talking, and by the end of the night they were friends."

"And they all lived happily ever after!" Bailey added, closing out the story with a cheeky grin. Cody shoved her playfully, and Bailey almost lost her footing and fell into a nearby bush.

"Hey!" She recollected herself, soothing her hair that had fallen into her face before they started to walk again. "You could have seriously injured me!"

He shrugged innocently at her. "Well, what's a happily ever after worth without a little conflict?"

* * *

"Professor Skeet, It's not that I don't respect your opinion, but I hardly believe this paper deserves a D. I put a lot of hard work into it." Marina protested desperately to her english professor.

Professor Skeet slid back the neat paper across the oak desk with finality. He folded his hands upon the desk as he started to speak. "Miss. Manning, I graded your paper based upon it's content, and that alone. If you are suggesting that other factors influenced my grading then we have a problem here."

"What?" Her eyes widened at the sugestment. "No, of corse not, I just think that you might of misread a few things, and was wondering if you could reread it, please?" She smiled sweetly as she slid the paper back towards her professor with a pleading look.

Professor Skeet sighed, before simply pushing the paper back to Marina, fed up with this entire charade. "I made notes of all your mistakes inside, maybe if you had looked past the cover page than you would have noticed."

Marina wrinkled her forehead in confusion before snatching the paper up off the desk, and flipping through it's many pages. He was right, there was red all over the thing. Comments, adjustments, just like he said. Professor Skeet began to gather up his laptop and a stack of papers, getting ready to go home for the day. Marina looked up from her scribbled mess of a paper in confusion. "I worked really hard on this, I just don't understand how I could of earned a D on this paper."

"Above all your other trivial mistakes, it was disorganized. Your points were sloppy and hard to follow. It gave me a head ache just reading it." Professor Skeet mumbled as he stood from his desk, and began to walk out of the seminar room only to be followed by Marina.

"I outlined all my key points though, and followed every step, why is it wrong?" She walked faster to keep up with him as they weaved through the halls. She ignored the fact that he was clearly walking faster by the second in attempt to get away from her.

"Just because you did all the steps doesn't mean you did them correctly. Just look over my comments, and try to improve on your next paper. There is no use arguing with me, Miss. Manning."

They were nearing the exit. "I still don't see where you are coming from professor," She pushed open the glass door adjacent to Professor Skeet's. "If anything I- Umph!" She slammed into another person trying to use the same entrance. As the unsuspecting victim fell to the ground, Professor Skeet used the opportunity to sneak away from the annoying young woman.

"Bailey, are you ok!" Two people shouted out in unison at the disheveled girl laying on the ground. The two looked up at each other in confusion. "What?"

"My head hurts..." Bailey mumbled as she slowly sat up from the concrete cradling the back of her skull. Immediately the two helped her to her feet. Bailey rubbed her head grumpily as the two looked on in worry.

"Are you alright? Do you think you have a concussion? Oh, maybe you should go to the clinic to get checked out." Cody rambled on nervously as he took her head in his hands, steadying it to check for dilated pupils. Bailey swatted his hands away.

"I'm fine guys, really." She reassured them.

"Are you really sure, because if you aren't then I can drive you over to the clinic." Marina leaned back and forth on the balls of her feet with unease. She really didn't like the idea that she had just possibly given her friend a concussion.

Bailey rolled her eyes lightly. "No broken bones, no scratches. I'm completely fine, Marina."

Cody spoke up at the mention of the familiar name. "Oh, so you're Bailey's roommate. That makes sense now."

"I would say the same thing, but I'm still confused here." She scrunched her eyebrows taking in the young man, checking to see if she had seen him before, but she hadn't. "Who are you, and how do you know Bailey?"

"Oh, sorry." Bailey stepped in. "Mari, this is Cody. The guy from high school I told you and Jeremy about?"

"Oh!" She shouted in realization, practically jumping up. Yea, she was definitely as perky as Bailey had described her, maybe even more. "Now I get it! Hi, I'm Marina. It's really nice to meet you!" She smiled, taking a hand that hung freely at his side, and shaking it strongly.

"Well, it's nice to meet you too..." He smiled awkwardly back at her.

"Anyways," She dropped Cody's hand, and turned to Bailey standing at her side. "Bailey, I was wondering if you could look over my essay tonight."

Bailey's face dropped at the suggestion. "But, Marina I'm going to that thing with Jeremy tonight, and aren't you the one usually editing my papers?" She lifted a curious eyebrow at her.

Mariana puffed out in frustration. "Apparently, my papers are _sloppy._" She put air quotes around sloppy to show that she was clearly not pleased about the entire situation. No one had dared call her writing disorganized since eighth grade, and now in her senior year of college she was receiving her worst slander yet?

"That just makes no sense. You're the best writer our age I know."

"I know!" She threw her hands up. "I would say the same thing, but that would just be vain!"

Bailey laughed a little as Marina poked fun at herself. "Well, either way I can't help you, and I got to go. My class starts in a minute, and I don't want to be late." She dashed into the building without another word, and ran off down the hall, leaving Marina and Cody to themselves.

Watching Bailey disappear into a classroom, Marina turned back to Cody, who was fumbling with his phone, unaware to Marina. She stared at him for a few seconds as his fingers grazed the touch screen composing a text. His entire composure just seemed awkward to her. He was lanky, he fidgeted slightly when he moved, and he just couldn't get his hair out of his eyes no matter how many times he reached up to brush it away.

He looked up, surprised to see Marina looking at him with such interest. "What?" He asked anxiously, brushing his hair out of his eyes once more.

"How do you feel about reading a fifteen page analysis of _A Brave New World_?"

* * *

_"She's electric, she's the color running through my veins,_  
_She's a siren, hearing voices that I can't explain,_  
_I should be thinking it over instead of calling her over,_  
_Now she's here and she won't go quietly."_  
_~Won't Go Quietly, Example_


	5. Chapter 3: Melodrama

**A/N:** New chapter! Yay! Marina is like all over the place guys... And it was like ten times worse before I edited it. You have been warned. I also warn you of fluff. Lots of fluff :) Next chapter up next weekend.

* * *

**Chapter 3: Melodrama**

"Are you done yet?" Marina puffed out for the fifth time in ten minutes. She laid backwards off the ledge of her bed, waiting in boredom as Cody scrutinized the paper from the desk chair across from her.

"No," He repeated once more. "But now I'm looking over the comments." He said as he flipped a page, nearing the end.

Marina rolled backwards off the bed onto her knees. She scooted closer to him to snatch the paper from his hands. "Come on! I asked for _your_ opinion not his! What do _you_think?" She titled her head to the side, expecting his praising answer. He had to see that Professor Skeet was insane.

Her writing was perfect.

"I..." He started off nervously. "Well, I-I guess-" He tried to get it out, but with no prevail.

"Just spit it out!" She shook his shoulders roughly in attempt to get it out of him.

"I see his point!" He yelled out. The shaking suddenly stopped, and Marina came into focus once more. The image wasn't a pleasant one though. First, she was confused, eyebrows scrunched in all. Then, she was sad, he could see it in her eyes, but it only lasted a second before the anger came.

She shot up from her kneeling position in a fit of rage. "What do you mean you see his point? He has no point! You have no point!" She yelled out dramatically as she paced back and forth across the small dorm. Finally, she turned back to him, and he could of sworn he saw tears in her eyes. She wouldn't let them fall though. "Are you crazy?!"

Cody's eyes widened; he hadn't expected this reaction. "Marina, I think if you would just look at these comments with a clear mind you would be able to see that... There was a reason for your grade." He ended quickly, hoping to do as little damage as possible. He had considered lying, but in the end he decided against it, knowing it would hurt more in time.

"You're wrong." She whispered as she took the paper briskly from Cody's hands, and began flipping through it slowly reading the comments. Cody looked on sadly as Marina's face contorted in response to each comment. The comments weren't in anyway worded harsh, but their intentions were. The clouding tears in her eyes finally fell, dripping onto the paper, and smudging the the red comments.

"Oh no," Cody rushed up to her nervously. While he was emotional himself, he had never really understood how to comfort other over emotional people... Especially girls. "Please don't cry, Marina. These are easy fixes. It was just a lot of little organizational stuff. I'm sure you can fix it all by the time your next paper is due." He rambled on trying to reassure her that everything would be ok, but she just kept on looking down at the paper. Tears formed a river along it.

Yeah, he had no idea how to handle this.

"How am I suppose to get a good grade if my teacher is an idiot?" She sobbed out with her face in her hands.

"Umm..." Ok now _that_ he wasn't expecting.

"I mean really! Sure some of his points are there, but I definitely should of gotten at least..." She trailed off as she raised her face from her hands. Her eyes met the full length mirror plastered to the door.

She brushed her index finger under an eye, and pulled it away painted with black mascara. She chuckled a little at the reflection. _Wow, I look like a mess._

"What's so funny?" Cody asked more confused than ever. "I thought you were upset."

_Is this girl bipolar? ADHD? Just a psychopath in general?_

"Oh nothing," She turned back to him with a small smile as if she hadn't been in tears less than a minute before. "I just look like a raccoon." She wiped away a few spare tears, smudging the mascara further.

He didn't notice it until now, but she really did resemble a raccoon. He bit his lip in attempt to not laugh, but eventually it came out all at once. He was laughing so hard, and eventually he could hear a feminine laugh intertwine with his.

Finally the laughter died down, and Cody was wiping tears from his own eyes. He hadn't laughed that hard in a while.

She smiled at him, tilting her head slightly to the side in doing so. "Thanks for looking over my paper, Cody... Even if you were wrong." She thanked him as she paced over to her desk to snatch a bottle of makeup remover and a tissue.

"No problem?" _Should I leave now? Is she going to cry more? Are we going to laugh more? Do we just stand here now in silence-_

"Hey, wanna hang out tonight?" His thoughts were interrupted. Apparently Bailey had conviently forgotten to warn him of her bluntness. He could see her reflection from the mirror stare at him pressuringly.

Cody's eyes widened. "Well, I sort of have plans with someone else..." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"Oh..." Her shoulders slumped in disappointment.

Cody quickly recovered. "You can come along if you want though." _Just please don't cry or do that creepy persuasion thing again. _He held off from adding.

She immediately perked up. "Really? Oh, this is going to be so much fun!" She quickly set down the makeup remover, and threw away the blackened tissue. She snatched her purse off the cluttered desk, and grabbed Cody's hand, pulling him towards the door. "Let's go!"

* * *

"This is really hurting my back you know..." Jeremy got out strangled. Although this wasn't his ideal beginning to a Friday night he was sure that it would all be worth it in the end.

Bailey gasped dramatically. "Are you implying that I'm fat? Isn't that like the number one rule to any relationship: _Never_ call your girlfriend fat?"

Jeremy rolled his eyes in amusement. "I didn't call you fat. I called your telescope fat." He referenced the clunky object that hung from a strap across Bailey's back. Normally carrying Bailey piggyback would be easy for him, but when you add in another twenty pounds, and a steep hill, things start to become very difficult.

"Copernica takes offense to that." She retorted, jumping off Jeremy's back as soon as the reached the top of the grassy hill. She unfolded Copernica and set her down on the ground as Jeremy unfolded a picnic blanket.

Bailey began adjusting the microscope, looking in it every few seconds until the stars came into focus. She smiled at the beauty of the night sky.

From the ground Jeremy gazed at Bailey. While she would argue that the stars are far more spectacular sight than her, he wouldn't hesitate to disagree.

She had drug him out to this spot every meteor shower, every eclipse, and even on normal nights like this one since Sophomore year when he bought the telescope for her as a birthday present.

Despite how heavy it was to carry up the hill, he wouldn't trade the memories that accompanied that telescope for anything.

She sighed. "It's just so beautiful tonight." She ripped her eyes away from the stars to look at Jeremy for a second. "Come look at this." She motioned him toward her.

"I think I'm fine right here." He laid back onto the checkered blanket, his head still turned to look at Bailey instead of the beauteous stars.

"You're missing out." She rolled her eyes at him, and too selfish to give up the opportunity to star gaze for long, turned back to Copernica.

"I would beg to differ." He grinned at her, and despite her attempt to keep cool, the blush on her face was clearly visible. No matter how much she tried to hide behind her telescope she couldn't hide from him.

* * *

"_I got this."_

"_I don't need any help right now."_

"_I can do it myself."_

"_Oh, let me do that."_

"_Really, Jeremy, I can handle this."_

_It seemed like that was all he heard ever since they got together. She wouldn't let him do anything! Romantic gestures, making plans... She wouldn't even let him help her pack for Christmas break!_

_How was he suppose to even be apart of this relationship if, well... he wasn't?_

"_Bailey?" He finally said one day while the two were quietly sitting in his room, doing some homework._

"_Hmm." She hummed lightly, not looking up from the book she was highlighting._

"_Are you mad at me?" He asked hesitantly._

_She looked up at him. Her initially reaction was alarmed, but she quickly calmed herself. She was good at that. "No, why would you think that, Sweetie?"_

"_Well, you never let me do anything for you. I was just wondering if I did something to make you feel this way?" He twirled his pencil in his hand nervously. He really hoped that she was telling the truth. He didn't want her to be upset with him._

She exhaled loudly. "_I'm sorry, I don't mean it." Setting her down her book, she crossed the room to where Jeremy sat on his bed. She sat down. "It just... happens." She looked down at the floor, embarrassed at the entire idea that she couldn't let her boyfriend in._

"_It's ok..." He wrapped an arm around her waist to bring her closer to him._

"_You aren't upset?" She looked up at him astonished._

"_Of corse not silly," He kissed her temple. "We'll get through this together."_

"_It will be hard." She whispered nervously._

"_I care about you too much to give up."_

_Why was she so defensive? Why was it so hard to get out? "I... I care about you too."_

_She meant so much more._

* * *

_"I can finally see that you're right there beside me,_  
_I am not my own, for I have been made new,_  
_Please don't let me go,_  
_I desperately need you"_  
_~Meteor Shower, Owl City_


	6. Chapter 4: Right Up My Alley

**A/N:** Sorry for not updating guys :( I had a really big analysis project due this week, and being the procrastinator that most AP students are, I didn't start until three days before it was due... Updating might be sketchy until mid October, because I have to finish a spanish course, but I was expecting that.

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**Chapter 4: Right Up My Alley**

A small chime rang through tiny New Haven bowling alley as the door swung open. Landon immediately turned his head away from his hands tying the decaying bowling shoes. Cody walked into the neon glowing bowling alley with his bowling bag in tow, and Marina following closely behind. "You're late!" Landon yelled out across the room.

"Five minutes isn't _that_ late..." Cody mumbled lightly as he went to join his friend while Marina skipped to the counter to rent her own shoes.

"And this coming from the most punctual person I know?" He exhaled deeply as he finished double knotting his last shoe. "What has the world come to?"

Cody rolled his eyes as he took as seat next to Landon, and took out his own personal pair of shoes to put on. "It really isn't a big deal."

"I mean," Landon started as he rose, walking over to enter their names into the score board. "That girl wouldn't have anything to do with it? Would it? Well aren't you the ladies man."

"Hey! She's just a friend and you know I wouldn't-" He looked up from tying his shoes, and up at the scoreboard. "Why do you get to go first?" He cut himself off at the slow apparition of Landon's name on the scoreboard.

"You went first last time." He stated with finality as he finished typing his name, and moved onto Cody's.

"What ever happened to ladies first?" Cody raised an eyebrow as he went to join his friend at the screen.

Before Landon could comment back, the boys' conversation was interrupted. "Its Marina, like the synonym for harbor."

They turned abruptly to see Marina walking towards them, arms swinging back and forth with shoes in tow. She scooted herself between the two, and began typing in the rest of Cody's name before starting on her own. She quickly saved the names, initiating the start of the game. She turned her head slightly to Cody's, rolling her eyes in doing so. "It's the twenty first century, I don't need to go first."

A subtle blush crept up on his face. Landon laughed. "Guess being a gentleman doesn't pay off _every_ time."

Cody recollected himself. "Hey! You would of done the same thing if Jenny was here!"

At this, the blood rushed to Landon's pale cheeks, and Marina giggled at how equally flustered they both were. "Lets just get to the game." Landon nodded in a silent agreement, taking a ball and approaching the lane for his first turn.

"You ready to lose?" Cody nudged Marina's crossed arms.

Marina shrugged her shoulders casually as she scrutinized Landon positioning himself. "I don't know. Are you any good?"

Cody couldn't contain himself over the absurdity of the question. "No, my brother inherited the bowling genes." Landon released the heavy ball and it sped down the gutter lined lane straight toward the middle pin, not thinking twice before pulverizing every unlucky pin in sight. Landon jumped up in excitement. His landing on the slick floor was a bit unsteady, but did nothing to diminish his excitement.

The fact the Cody had a brother though interested Marina more than a simple strike. "You have a brother? Me too!" Her eyes and smile widened.

"Yup. We are twins actually, and Bailey told me about Jeremy." He commented back as Landon approached the pair.

He patted Cody's back, signaling for him to take his turn.

He warned Marina before walking to get his ball. "This may very well be the worst display of bowling you've ever seen..."

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And he was right. By the last round Cody was struggling behind at sixty five while Landon and Marina were into the two hundreds. At this point he was contemplating just giving up, because of how pathetic he looked along side his two companions.

It's not they would notice if he disappeared anyways, considering how into the game they were by the last round.

"Harbor, you are so going down!" Landon yelled out, breaking Marina's concentration as she prepared for her last turn. She couldn't complain... She herself wouldn't stop making animal calls during his turn, and was now at a disadvantage after earning his first gutter ball of the game.

She quickly regained herself and focused her vision down the thin lane towards the pins. She began to pull her arm back when she was interrupted once more. "HARBOR!" She dropped the ball behind her and it made a rather loud thud against the wooden floor. Laughter erupted from behind her.

She pivoted to look the the two laughing men. The ball rolled back toward her feet and nestled against them. She crossed her arms in response to the ongoing laughter. "Could you at least stop calling me Harbor?" She tried.

"Hey-" Landon started off, clutching his stomach in an attempt to suppress his thunderous laughs. "You brought this... On your... On your..."

She rolled her eyes playfully and bent over to regain the ball. Taking advantage at Landon's inability to form complete sentences, she quickly bowled a split.

"Ooooo," Cody cooed from behind. "The dreaded seven-ten split." He commented as Marina walked up to Cody and Landon lounging in plastic chairs. She waited for her ball to roll up.

"Ehh," She said as she leaned up against the ball return machine. "I already won anyways." She commented as her eyes drifted to the scoreboard which proved her true. She was one up.

It surprised Marina when a smile graced Landon's face. Of corse she had initiated their competitive streak, but she would of expected him to be a little bit of a sore loser. "Good game." He nodded to her.

She smiled back at him before taking her newly returned ball for her second turn. She was all positioned when she suddenly turned back and pointed straight at Landon. "This one's for you, Landon!" She yelled out before proceeding to roll the ball deliberately down the gutter.

Now she really was one up.

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_"Cause I don't mean it like I say it, and you don't say it like you mean it."_  
_~Say It Like You Mean It, The Cinema_


End file.
